Biokyra

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Unfortunately, we still
face a world full of challenges in regards to healthcare. There are several
countries where huge populations suffer from little-to-no infrastructure
leading to tortured access to care and poor delivery. However, one can see many
technology endeavours attempting to narrow the inequality between developed and
developing countries.

According to theSmithsonian Magazine, researchers at Columbia University have developed a chip that can analyze a
drop of blood from a finger prick and when plugged into a smartphone test for
HIV and syphilis in 15 minutes. The research team believe that this technology
could be manufactured for at least $34. The smartphone accessory is small
enough to fit in one’s hand and easily powered. This is especially suitable for
places like Rwanda, where they already conducted a trial to test for HIV.

Jana Care, based in Newton - MA, in partnership
with Continuum, an innovation and design consultancy company, developed another
great example of technology trying to narrow the existing healthcare difference
around the globe. It’s called Aina: a glucometer, that plugs into the headphone
jack of a smartphone and checks blood glucose levels. It was initially
developed for a certain socioeconomic lifestyle in India. However, since
diabetes is a growing epidemic in emerging countries, the technology could be
used in other parts of the world. Diabetes is an expensive and difficult
disease to manage. So Jana Care “has created a program by which it offers
disease management skills to patients through an interactive reality TV show,
mobile app for diet and exercise tracking and support from diabetes educators.”

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Last month, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) issued final
guidelines regarding mobile health apps regulations. The agency stated that it
would not regulate apps that don’t threaten users if they fail. The mobile apps
that pose a threat are the ones that would ““transform a mobile platform into a
regulated medical device by using attachments, display screens, sensors or
other such methods,” said the FDA. The guidance reinforce their intentions to
not regulate technologies that receive, transmit, store and display data from
medical devices.

The guidelines came a
few weeks after the FDA authorized the first set of mobile health apps,
“including one that allows the remote monitoring of glucose levels in people
with diabetes. The application allows real-time data sharing from a continuous
glucose monitor via an iPhone.” The agency also approved a mobile app that aims
to diagnose head injuries on the battlefield, which was developed by
AnthroTronix for the US Department of Defense with funding from the US Navy
Bureau of Medicine and Surgery and a Rapid Innovation Fund award by the US
Army.

The FDA’s acknowledgment
on this matter represents, not only an achievement for the medical app
industry, but an accomplishment for the healthcare workers and patients. The
two previous examples prove how an app can help the medical industry. In the
United States, more than 60% of the population owns a smartphone. In Brazil,
84% of the population has a mobile phone and about 36% of which have a
smartphone. In the medical profession, this number is even higher. In Brazil
there are some legislative peculiarities that prevent several advances, such as
telemedicine.